An Infrastructure Of Losing

Old Conventional Wisdom: President Joe Biden needs to be making a far bigger deal about Democratic party successes in order to convince voters to show up in November and he needs to visit red states to win back white working-class voters NOW!

Biden: I'll go on tour and make a big deal about our successes leading up to November midterms to sell our historic infrastructure bill in red states and I'll do it now!

New Conventional wisdom: Why is Joe Biden wasting everyone's time touting Democratic successes when nobody cares?

As President Joe Biden ramps up his efforts to help Democrats in the midterm elections, he’s focused on a selling point that, so far, voters aren’t: his plan to rebuild the county’s infrastructure.

Standing in an industrial building near the Port of New Hampshire last month, flanked by construction and boating equipment, Biden talked dredging, bridges and lead pipes.

“Folks, this matters. It matters to our safety, our security, our health," Biden told the crowd there as he promoted the $550 billion infrastructure package he shepherded through Congress last year.

The president's second trip in six months to New Hampshire, where Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan is expected to face a tough re-election fight, was just the latest in a steady string of stops designed to highlight the legislation.

But yet again that day, by most objective measures, much of the country’s focus lay elsewhere — on a court order lifting the mask requirement on airplanes, on the impact of surging inflation, and on Russia’s renewed assault on Ukraine.

The infrastructure bill has been Biden's biggest policy accomplishment so far, and is generally seen by voters as a positive. But while they may like the idea of new roads and bridges, it isn’t to be found on the list of top issues they say they care about most.

Instead, inflation, the war in Ukraine, and, as of last week, abortion are top of mind for voters — and, say political strategists and candidates, those areas are where candidates in tough re-election battles are focusing their energy. While Biden and the White House have not avoided the topics, and acknowledge they stand to be major issues this fall, the president has so far continued to devote the bulk of his public message to infrastructure.

“Infrastructure is so far down the list of concerns that if I were the president, I wouldn’t be selling infrastructure,” said Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, of the message to voters. “Yeah, it’s great there’s going to be a bridge, but we’re not going to see that bridge built for five years. They’re not gonna see anything in the short term that is going to impact their lives because of the passage of infrastructure.”

Last month, Biden made stops in New Hampshire, Washington, Oregon, North Carolina, and Iowa where his primary message was the way those states stood to benefit from the infrastructure law. The White House also sent Cabinet members and other top officials on trips to 25 states last month to talk infrastructure.

"We’re talking about billions of dollars modernizing roads, bridges, airports, delivering clean water, high speed internet," Biden said Friday in Ohio, where he also pushed for legislation to bolster the U.S. semiconductor industry.

But Democrats in competitive races this cycle say they are focusing more on bread-and-butter issues — efforts to lower housing, child care and insulin costs — when they talk to voters back in their districts.

“People are understanding of the issues around infrastructure, but until we see shovels in the ground, I’m not sure people are going to fully see what that investment means,” said Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., who called roads, bridges and tunnels the “lifeblood” of his state.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., one of the most vulnerable Democrats this cycle, has been touting the infrastructure package in constituent meetings and local media interviews, pointing to how it stands to help repair rural roads and upgrade water systems.

In a paid ad, Kelly touted it as a success story for Arizona that would improve commuting, trade and border security, a message other vulnerable Democrats in swing states are highlighting.

But asked Tuesday what voters care about most, Kelly said they’re “focused on costs of things which are really expensive: gasoline, prescription drugs, food.” And with the Supreme Court’s leaked majority opinion this week, he added that voters also will be focused on abortion rights.

 

Why, it's almost like the media wants Republicans back in charge so they can cover the chaos and get better ratings like they did in the Trump era. Nothing Biden does can work, you see. The Midterms are already over and there's nothing Democrats can do about it. 

You and I know that's hogwash, but don't expect Democrats to even be able to tout what they did right when the media shits all over it on a daily basis.